abada

From Portuguese abada (“female rhinoceros”), from Malay badak (“rhinoceros”).

It is certain that the unicorn is not to be confounded with the abada, about which they usually dispute; this one may see by the difference of their names, as well as by the difference of their body and parts […]

1864, William Winwood Reade, Savage Africa, page 373:

(mythology) A herbivorous mythological creature of the Central African Congo, similar to the unicorn. Its horns are said to be an antidote to poisons, and it has brown fur, two crooked horns and a boar's tail.


shapeshift

en-verb

shapeshift (third-person singular simple present shapeshifts, present participle shapeshifting, simple past and past participle shapeshifted)

shapeshifts (present singular third-person)
shapeshifting (participle present)
shapeshifted (participle past)
shapeshifted (past)

Probably a back-formation from shapeshifter.

Journey in exactly the same way as you did to shapeshift into your power animal except, this time, set your intention to shapeshift into a named ancestor.

2010, Mike Williams, Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, page 91:

I can't shapeshift Zane, I only look like this I always have.

But to embed oneself in an irregular and unpredictable food supply as mycelium does, one must be able to shapeshift.

2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 57:

(biology, fantasy, mythology, intransitive) To change one's shape or form (into another) through often magical means, normally applied only to living beings.


abduction

en-noun

abduction (countable and uncountable, plural abductions)

From Latin abductiō (“robbing; abduction”), from abdūcō (“take or lead away”), from ab (“away”) + dūcō (“to lead”). Equivalent to abduct + -ion.
* (physiology): From French, from Latin abductus.
* Compare French abduction.

But fear of abduction never stopped a good ufologist.

2010, Monte Dwyer, Red in the Centre: Through a Crooked Lens, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 122:


Lethean

From Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

They ferry over this Lethean sound.

The cup which was offered to you when you departed from Elysium was to be the Lethean draught, which would make you forget the joys you had experienced[.]

1813, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff, London: T. Hookham, jun., and E.T. Hookham, page 99:

Accordingly, she one day took the Lethean crown from off his head: immediately all his old ideas rushed on his mind, and inflamed him with an ardent desire to revisit his country.

1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 80:

(chiefly poetic, Greek mythology) Of or relating to the river Lethe, one of the four rivers of Hades. Those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.


Thanatos

(Greek mythology) The god of death (specifically of a peaceful death), and twin brother of Hypnos (god of sleep); the Greek counterpart of Mors.


Achilles

Borrowed from Latin Achillēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀχιλλεύς (Akhilleús).

Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

Achilles’ wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber’d, heavenly goddess, sing!

1715, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, chapter 1, in The Iliad of Homer, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:

If once the lamentation is heard, it will ring out again, of the short-lived Achilles, of the leaf-like change and vicissitude of the human race, of the decay of the heroic age.

1910, Friedrich Nietzsche, chapter 3, in William A. Haussmann, transl., edited by Oscar Levy, The Birth of Tragedy; or, Hellenism and Pessimism (The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche; 1), Edinburgh, London: T. N. Foulis, page 36:

In the last third of the Iliad, Achilles’ beloved companion, Patroklos, and his bitter enemy, Hektor, die wearing Achilles’ armor, their deaths prefiguring Achilles’ own.

2012, Richard Holway, Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond, Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books), page 153:

(Greek mythology) A mythical semidivine hero, the son of Peleus by the nereid Thetis, and prince of the Myrmidons, who features in the Iliad as a central character and the foremost warrior of the Achaean (Greek) camp.


phoenix

phoenix (plural phoenix or phoenixes or phoenices)

phoenix (plural)
phoenixes (plural)
phoenices (plural)

From Old English and Old French fenix, from Medieval Latin phenix, from Latin phoenīx, from Ancient Greek φοῖνιξ (phoînix), from Egyptian bnw (boinu, “grey heron”). Doublet of Bennu. The grey heron was venerated at Heliopolis and associated in Egypt with the cyclical renewal of life because the bird rises in flight at dawn and migrates back every year in the flood season to inhabit the Nile waters.

burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood

1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

(mythology) A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.

(Chinese mythology) A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies; a fenghuang.


Jupiter

From Latin Iūpiter (“father Jove”), from Proto-Italic *djous patēr (literally “sky father”) (cognate with Ancient Greek Ζεῦ πάτερ (Zeû páter, “father Zeus”)), from *djous (“day, sky”) + *patēr (“father”), from Proto-Indo-European *dyḗws (literally “the bright one”), from *dyew- (“to be bright, day sky”), and *ph₂tḗr (“father”). Doublet of Dyaus Pita.

der

(Roman mythology) The King of the Gods, also called Jove. Equivalent to the Greek Zeus, Jupiter was one of the children of Saturn. As supreme god of the Roman pantheon, Jupiter was the god of thunder, lightning, and storms, and appropriately called the god of light and sky.


gray

From Middle English gray, from Old English grǣġ, from Proto-West Germanic *grāu, from Proto-Germanic *grēwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰreh₁- (“to green, to grow”).
See also Dutch grauw, German grau, Old Norse grár); also Latin rāvus (“grey”), Old Church Slavonic зьрѭ (zĭrjǫ, “to see, to glance”), Russian зреть (zretʹ, “to watch, to look at”) (archaic), Lithuanian žeriù (“to shine”).

cog

(chiefly US, ufology) Synonym of grey alien


Victoria

en-proper noun

Victoria (countable and uncountable, plural Victorias or Victoriae)

From Latin Victōria, from victōria (“victory”). Doublet of Vitória. The given name can also be analyzed as the male name Victor + -ia. The places were named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain.

(Roman mythology) The Roman goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike.


ba

Any ordinary person who has ever floated out of his body during a nap knows what a Ba is, but unfortunately the dogmas of our materialistic culture constrain the person to ignore and repress his experience.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 220:

But the Ba, I remembered, could be seen as the mistress of your heart and might or might not decide to speak to you, just as the heart cannot always forgive.

(Egyptian mythology) A being's soul or personality, represented as a bird-headed figure, which survives after death but must be sustained with offerings of food.


race

en-noun

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

1560s, via Middle French race from Italian razza (early 14th century), of uncertain origin. Partially displaced native Middle English kinde (“kind, type, sort, race, nature”), whence English kind.
theories
* Diez and some other scholars suggest derivation from Proto-Germanic *raitō (whence Old High German reiza (“line”) and Old Norse ríta (“to score, log, outline”)), perhaps via Lombardic *raiza (“line”), which Körting notes is a literal rendering of Latin linea sanguinis (“bloodline of descent”). Anatoly Liberman says "the semantic fit is good" but the chronology falters; he says the Germanic word went out of use before the Italian word arose, and he says the intermediary is not attested.
* Some scholars suggest derivation from Old Spanish raza, rasa, from earlier ras, res (“head of cattle”), from Arabic رَأْس (raʔs, “head”), but Italian razza predates the Spanish word according to Diez and Meyer-Lübke.
* Meyer-Lübke suggested Latin generatio as the root; Körting says "the disappearance of two initial syllables hardly seems credible", but Meyer-Lübke notes the Venetian form narazza and the Old Bellunesian form naraccia, positing that after the first syllable ge- was lost, the remaining (una) narazza came to be reanalysed as una razza.
* Gianfranco Contini suggests the Italian word comes from Old French haraz (“troop of horses”), whence Modern French haras (“breeding farm for horses; stud farm”), from Old Norse hárr (“grey-haired; hoary”). Liberman considers this derivation the most likely.
* Other suggested Latin etyma:
** radius (perhaps via Vulgar Latin *radia) (per Baist).
** radix (“root”) (per Ulrich); Liberman says "the semantic match is excellent", and race (“rhizome of ginger”) (which definitely derives from radix) shows that the phonology is plausible.
** *raptiare (“breed falcons”) (per Körting).
** The nominative of ratio (perhaps via an unattested intermediate form *razzo), as opposed to ragione which derives from the accusative rationem.
* Other implausible suggestions include Slavic raz and Basque arraca, supposedly meaning "stud animal" (Basque arrazza, "race", derives from Spanish).

raça

a group of sentient beings distinguished by common characteristics

عِرْق

a large group of people distinguished from others on the basis of physical characteristics

raça

a group of organisms distinguished by common characteristics

A treaty was concluded between the race of elves and the race of men.

There are two distinct races of gods known to Norse mythology[.]

1898, Herman Isidore Stern, The gods of our fathers: a study of Saxon mythology, page 15:

Imagine a race of aliens that develops on a dimly lit world perpetually shrouded in clouds so that vision would be less useful for survival than on Earth.

1999, Clifford A. Pickover, The Science of Aliens, page 47:

Tali: My father is responsible for the lives of seventeen million people—our entire race is in his hands. And I'm his only child.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1:

A group of sentient beings, particularly people, distinguished by common ancestry, heritage or characteristics (see Wikipedia's article on historical definitions of race):

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A large group of nonhumans distinguished from others on the basis of a common heritage.


rod

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewdʰ- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *rōdō (“rod, pole”).

der

These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.

2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37:

During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”

2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pages 129–130:

He tells of a home video showing a rod flying into the open mouth of a girl singing at a wedding.

2010, Deena West Budd, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology: Werewolves, Dragons, Skyfish, Lizard Men, and Other Fascinating Creatures Real and Mysterious, Weiser Books, page 15:

(ufology) A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.


human

From Late Middle English humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain, from Latin hūmānus m (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”, adjective), from homo, with unclear ū. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century. Not etymologically related to man.

чолові́к m (čolovík) (now usually means "man", "male human")

Greetings. I am Blor-Utar from Zimtok-5. I have come to subjugate the human race. Do not resist. Why humans? Because, in addition to their value as slave labor, they are also delicious and nutritious!

1994 March 29, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes:

(strictly, biology) The tallest, most abundant and most intelligent of the primates; Homo sapiens.

(fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race.


Asia

en-proper noun

Asia (countable and uncountable, plural Asias)

From Middle English Asia, Asie, from Old French Asie and Latin Asia, from Ancient Greek Ᾰ̓σῐ́ᾱ (Asíā), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊 (a-si-wi-ja /aswijaː/), in turn probably from Hittite 𒀸𒋗𒉿 (aš-šu-wa /Aššuwa/, “northwest Anatolia”) of uncertain origin. Potentially from an Aegean language family substrate or Akkadian. Possibly a doublet of Assuwa.

der

67 Asia
Asia
Asia (mythology)
United Nations Statistics Division

(Greek mythology) A daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, the wife of the Titan, Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus and Menoetius.


Fand

(Irish mythology) A fairy and the wife of Manannán mac Lir and later the lover of Cúchulainn.


dev

From Armenian դեւ (dew). Doublet of daeva.

(Armenian mythology) A monster, dragon, serpent, or giant.

(Armenian mythology) An immortal spirit who inhabits old ruins.


ogre

First attested in the 18th century, borrowed from French ogre, from Latin Orcus (“god of the underworld”), from Ancient Greek Ὅρκος (Hórkos), the personified demon of oaths (ὅρκος (hórkos, “oath”)) who inflicts punishment upon oath-breakers. Doublet of orc and Orcus.

And in the seventh tale of the third day of the same collection, when Corvetto had hidden himself under the Ogre's bed to steal his quilt, "he began to pull quite gently, when the Ogre awoke, and bid his wife not to pull the clothes that way, or she'd strip him, and he would get his death of cold." "Why, it's you that are stripping me," replied the Ogress, "and you have not left a stitch on me." "Where the devil is the quilt?" says the Ogre[.]

1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 237:

(mythology) A type of brutish giant from folk tales that eats human flesh.


elf

en-noun

elf (plural elves or (now nonstandard) elfs)

elves (plural)
elfs (nonstandard plural)

A Dictionary of the English Language
Andrew Brice
Edmund Spenser
John Dryden
Laurence Eusden
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Oliver and Boyd
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Peter Heylyn
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sidney Lanier
Thomas Nashe
elf

→ Arabic: إِلْف (ʔilf)

→ Dutch: elf

→ French: elfe

→ German: Elf, Elfe

→ Japanese: エルフ (erufu)

→ Korean: 엘프 (elpeu)

→ Russian: эльф (elʹf)

→ Ukrainian: ельф (elʹf)

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Doublet of alf and oaf.

[…] if theyr children at any time vvere frowarde and vvanton, they would ſay to them that the Guelfe or the Gibeline came. VVhich vvords novve from them (as many thinge els) be come into our vſage, and for Guelfes and Gibelines, we ſay Elfes & Goblins.

1579, E. K., “[Iune. Ægloga Sexta.] Glosse.”, in Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 25, recto:

The man whom heauens haue ordaynd to bee / The ſpouſe of Britomart, is Arthegall: / He wonneth in the land of Fayeree, / Yet is no Fary borne, ne ſib at all / To Elfes, but ſprong of ſeed terreſtriall, / And whylome by falſe Faries ſtolne away, / Whyles yet in infant cradle he did crall; / Ne other to himſelfe is knowne this day, / But that he by an Elfe was gotten of a Fay.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 433:

Their Robbin-good-fellowes, Elfes, Fairies, Hobgoblins of our latter age, which idolatrous former daies and the fantasticall world of Greece ycleaped Fawnes, Satyres, Dryades & Hamadryades, did most of their merry prankes in the Night.

1594, Tho[mas] Nashe, The Terrors of the Night or, A Discourse of Apparitions, London: […] Iohn Danter for William Iones, […]:

Every elf, and fairy sprite, / Hop as light as bird from brier.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

[…] I had rather have a Child which my Wife ſhould bring me, though by another man, then to have a Changeling brought me by a company of Fairies, Elfs and Goblins: […]

1649, ΕΙΚΩΝ Ἡ ΠΙΣΤΗ. Or, The Faithfull Pourtraicture of a Loyall Subject, in Vindication of ΕΙΚΏΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΉ. […], page 16:

The quarrel ſpreading into parties, called the Guelfs and the Gibellines, became at laſt the wonder and amazement of all good people: inſomuch as ſome are of opinion, that the fiction of the Elfs and Goblins, wherewith we uſe to fright young children, was derived from hence.

1657, Peter Heylyn, Cosmographie in Four Books. Containing the Chorographie and Historie of the Whole World, and All the Principal Kingdoms, Provinces, Seas, and Isles Thereof., 2nd edition, London: […] Henry Seile, […], page 131:

The opinion of Fairies and Elfs is very old, and yet ſticketh very religiously in the minds of ſome. But to root that rank opinion of Elfs out of mens hearts, the truth is, that there be no ſuch things, nor yet the ſhadows of the things, but only by a ſort of bald Friers and knaviſh ſhavelings ſo faigned; […]

1678, The Shepherds Calendar: Containing Twelve Æglogues, Proportionable to the Twelve Months. […], London: […] Henry Hills for Jonathan Edwin, […], page 26:

For there and ſeveral other places / About mill dams and green brae faces, / Both Elrich, Elfs and Brownies ſtayed, / And Green gown’d Farries daunc’d and played; […]

a. 1690, William Cleland, A Collection of Several Poems and Verses, Composed upon Various Occasions, published 1697, page 59:

IN Days of Old when Arthur fill’d the Throne, / Whoſe Acts and Fame to Foreign Lands were blown; / The King of Elfs and little Fairy Queen / Gamboll’d on Heaths, and danc’d on ev’ry Green.

1700, [John] Dryden, “The Wife of Bath Her Tale [by Geoffrey Chaucer]”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 479:

This Juno heard; And ſhall ſuch Elfs, ſhe cry’d, / Diſpute my Juſtice, or my Pow’r deride?

1717, Laurence Eusden, “Book IV. [The Transformation of the Theban Matrons.]”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 127:

[…]the Devaſtations under the Goths, Guelphs, and Gibelines [whence ſome would derive the Terms of Elfs (or Elves) or Fairies, and Goblins (or Hobgoblins) or Spectres, &c.] […]

1760, Andrew Brice, “TUSCANY”, in The Grand Gazetteer; or, Topographic Dictionary, &c., page 1322, column 1:

Farefolkis, fairies, elfs, or elves; […]

1802, J[ames] Sibbald, “Glossary; or An Explanation of Ancient Scottish Words”, in Chronicle of Scottish Poetry; from the Thirteenth Century, to the Union of the Crowns: To Which Is Added a Glossary, volume IV, Edinburgh: […] [F]or J. Sibbald, […], [b]y C. Stewart & Co. […]:

These Picts are the Clan Alpin, the Alps, or Elfs or Elves,—[…]

1850, Matthew Stewart, Remarks on the Subject of Language, with Some Observations in the Form of Notes, Illustrative of the Information Which Language May Afford of the History and Opinions of Mankind, London: […] Richard and John Edward Taylor, […], for, […] the Author, page 14:

Prithee, young one, who art thou, and what has ailed thy mother to bedizen thee in this strange fashion? Art thou a Christian child,—ha? Dost know thy catechism? Or art thou one of those naughty elfs or fairies, whom we thought to have left behind us, with other relics of Papistry, in merry old England?

1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Elf-Child and the Minister”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 130:

The next species of these airy nothings are the elfs, or elves; […]

1852, William Bell, Shakespeare’s Puck, and His Folkslore, Illustrated from the Superstitions of All Nations, but More Especially from the Earliest Religion and Rites of Northern Europe and the Wends, London, page 58:

The Arbhus became in Teutonic mythology the Alben, Elben or Elfen, our Elfs, and in Scandinavian the Alfar.

1868, S[abine] Baring-Gould, “The Piper of Hameln”, in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, second series, Philadelphia, Pa.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott & Co.; London: Rivingtons, page 173:

The elfs or elves were inhabitants of the fields and groves, the progenitors of the fairies of the middle ages; […]

1868, David Hume, William Cooke Stafford, The History of England, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time; Compiled from the Most Authentic Sources, volume I, London, New York, N.Y.: The London Printing and Publishing Company, Limited, page 53, column 1:

Since you’ve been out, the news arrives / The Elfs’ Insurance Company’s gone.

1877, Sidney Lanier, “The Hard Times in Elfland. A Story of Christmas Eve.”, in [Mary Lanier], editor, Poems of Sidney Lanier, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1884, page 159:

Eve, Danish legend of her concealing her unwashed children, from whom come elfs, trolls, &c.

1879, William Henderson, “Index”, in Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders. […], London: […] [F]or the Folk-Lore Society by W. Satchell, Peyton and Co., […], page 364:

Much of fairy lore clusters around the so-called fairy rings, that is, the green circles in old pastures within which the elfs were supposed to dance at night by the light of the moon.

1889 May, “[Literary Notices.] The Folk-Lore of Plants. By T. F. Thiselton Dyer. […]”, in Popular Science, page 128, column 1:

NAT,[…]; a term applied to all spiritual beings, angels, elfs, demons, or what not, including the gods of the Hindus.

1903, Henry Yule, A[rthur] C[oke] Burnell, “NAT, s.”, in edited by William Crooke, Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive, London: John Murray, […], page 619, column 2:

Elfs and fays, from their haunts in the mountains, whistle their eerie ballads above the gray roof of “Dove Cottage,” and dance their ghostly jigs on the huge hearthstone, among whose blazing logs the Fire God paints his immortal canvases, with colorings splendid beyond the dream of man.

1917 November, Elizabeth Clendenning Ring, “Florence Earle Coates: Some Phases of Her Life and Poetry”, in The Book News Monthly, volume 36, page 109, column 1:

Alfs [elfs]: Another name for the elfs or elves.

2010, Heilan Yvette Grimes, The Norse Myths, Hollow Earth Publishing, →ISBN, page 254:

(Norse mythology) A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.

elf

Norse mythology: luminous spirit dwelling in Álfheim


labyrinth

From Middle English laberynt, laberynthe, from Latin labyrinthus, from Ancient Greek λᾰβύρῐνθος (labúrinthos, “a maze”).

der

Mrs. Churchill liked the interminable labyrinths of the Cyrus and the Cassandra, because she had liked them in the days of her girlhood. Youth identifies itself with the romance; it is the heroic knight, or the lovely lady, of which it reads; it lives amid those fine creations; its sweetest hours are given to dreams which soon "Fade into the light of common day."

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 264–265:

(Greek mythology) A maze-like structure built by Daedalus in Knossos, containing the Minotaur.

A complicated irregular network of passages or paths, especially underground or covered, in which it is difficult to find one's way.

(horticulture) A maze formed by paths separated by high hedges.

A structure similar to a maze, but containing only one path with no branches, as distinguished from a maze which contains multiple branching paths

Whitney is absorbed especially by Dublin's unglamorous interstitial zones: the new housing estates and labyrinths of roads, watercourses and railways where the city peters into its commuter belt.

2014 August 23, Neil Hegarty, “Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin by Karl Whitney, review: 'a necessary corrective' [print version: Re-Joycing in Dublin, p. R25]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

(by extension) Anything complicated and confusing in structure, arrangement, or character.


sphere

From Middle English spere, from Old French sphere, from Late Latin sphēra, earlier Latin sphaera (“ball, globe, celestial sphere”), from Ancient Greek σφαῖρα (sphaîra, “ball, globe”), of unknown origin. Not related to superficially similar Persian سپهر (sepehr, “sky”) .

uder

ſooner ſhall the Sun fall from his Spheare,
Than Tamburlaine be ſlaine or ouercome.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

It is more simplicitie to teach our children[…][t]he knowledge of the starres, and the motion of the eighth spheare, before their owne.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC, page 153:

They understood not the motion of the eighth sphear from West to East, and so conceived the longitude of the Stars invariable.

1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, I.6:

music of the spheres
music of the spheres

(historical, astronomy, mythology) Any of the concentric hollow transparent globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth, and which carried the heavenly bodies; there were originally believed to be eight, and later nine and ten; friction between them was thought to cause a harmonious sound (the music of the spheres).

sferoj

historical, astronomy, mythology: any of the concentric globes formerly believed to rotate around the Earth

(mythology) An area of activity for a planet; or by extension, an area of influence for a god, hero etc.


Paris

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Πάρις (Páris).

-æɹɪs (Received Pronunciation, New York City, without the Mary–marry–merry merger)

-ɛɹɪs (General American, Canada, Mary–marry–merry merger)

(Greek mythology) A Trojan prince who eloped with Helen.


kappa

It was not quite possible for a kappa to go pale, but this one managed, shrinking partly into its shell.

2013, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Kitsune-Mochi: Kitsune Tales #2, page 94:

(Japanese mythology) A tortoise-like demon or imp.


Nike

From Ancient Greek Νίκη (Níkē), from νίκη (níkē, “victory”).

(Greek mythology) The goddess of victory and triumph; Athena's companion.


Vulcan

From Latin Vulcānus, probably from Etruscan although very unclear, but unknown meaning and further origin (see more in Latin entry). Doublet of bolcane and volcano.

The goddess Venus was the wife of Vulcan.

(Roman mythology) The god of volcanoes and fire, especially the forge, also the patron of all craftsmen, especially blacksmiths. The Roman counterpart of Hephaestus.


sylvan

Borrowed from Medieval Latin sylvanus, possibly via Middle French sylvain, from Latin silvanus, cognate with Latin Silvānus (“Roman god of the woods”), from silva (“forest”), from Proto-Indo-European *sel-, *swel- (“beam, board, frame, threshold”). The ⟨y⟩ in sylvanus and its descendants is due to influence from Ancient Greek ῡ̔́λη (hū́lē, “wood, matter”), transliterated in the Latin style as hyle. Analysable as sylva (“silva”) + -an.

der

And ſeeing it is ſo generall a report, and ſo many auerre it eyther from their owne triall or from others, that are of indubitable honeſtie and credite, that the Syluanes and Fawnes, commonly called Incubi, haue often iniured women, deſiring and acting carnally with them: […]

1610, Saint Augustine, “Whether It be Credible that the Angels being of an Incorporeall Nature, should Lust after the Women of the Earth, and Marrying Them, Beget Gyants of Them. Chap. 23.”, in J[ohn] H[ealey], transl., St. Augustine, of the Citie of God: […], [London]: […] George Eld, →OCLC, book XV, page 561:

214. A Revel and Sacrifice to Pan. The frequent repetition of these subjects shows how deeply the artist's mind was imbued with the love of sylvan rites and ceremonies, characteristic of the fabled golden age, when "In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan." […] [N]ear to her are a nymph and a faun sitting together; the attention of the former is at the moment attracted by a sylvan, who is dragging a goat by the leg; […]

1837, John Smith, “The Works of Nicolas Poussin”, in A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters; in which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Discussion of Their Principal Pictures; a Statement of the Prices at which such Pictures have been Sold at Public Sales on the Continent and in England; a Reference to the Galleries and Private Collections, in which a Large Portion are at Present; and the Names of the Artists by whom They have been Engraved: To which is Added, a Brief Notice of the Scholars & Imitators of the Great Masters of the above Schools, 8th part, London: Published by Smith & Son, 137, New Bond Street, →OCLC, page 113:

Her private orchards, walled on every side, / To lawless sylvans all access denied. / How oft the satyrs and the wanton fawns, / Who haunt the forests, or frequent the lawns, / The god whose ensign scares the birds of prey, / And old Silenus, youthful in decay, / Employed their wiles and unavailing care / To pass the fences, and surprise the fair!

1847, Alexander Pope, “Vertuminus and Pomona. From the Fourteenth Book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.”, in The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, new edition, London: H[enry] G[eorge] Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, pages 277–278, lines 19–26:

The sylvans who guarded the palace were bearded buffoons, lazy and stupid but fierce. Without the help of the Silenus, prefect of the satyrs, the cocky satyrs may have fought with the sylvans.

1976, Jane Krier, The English Masque: Vanished Court Drama (unpublished M.A. dissertation), Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin, →OCLC, page 64:

(mythology) A fabled deity of the wood; a faun, a satyr.


mercurial

en-adj

mercurial (comparative more mercurial, superlative most mercurial)

more mercurial (comparative)
most mercurial (superlative)

/məːˈkjʊə.ɹɪ.əl/

Noun sense 1 (“(obsolete) plant known as mercury”) is from Middle English mercurial, from Anglo-Norman mercurial and Old French mercurial, or directly from their etymon, from Mercurius (“the Roman god Mercury”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns).
Later adjective and noun uses may have been directly derived from Latin mercuriālis, whence Middle English mercurial (“under the astrological influence of the planet Mercury”).

ref

From the collection of the Wellcome Library in London, England, UK.

cog

Near-synonym: Hermesian

I know the ſhape of's Legge: this is his Hand: / His Foote Mercuriall: his martiall Thigh / The brawnes of Hercules: but his Iouiall face— / Murther in heaven?

1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 390, column 1:

[Benjamin] Franklin, the mechanic of his own fortune, [...] tendering, from the self-created nation, to the mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive-branch of peace, the mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection and safety to the man of peace on the pathless ocean from the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war; [...]

1843 February 8, John Quincey Adams, “Presentation of Washington’s Sword and Franklin’s Staff”, in [Francis Preston] Blair, [John C.] Rives, editors, The Congressional Globe: […] (United States House of Representatives, 27th Congress, 3rd session), volume XII, number 16, Washington, D.C.: Published by Blair and Rives; […], published 10 February 1843, →OCLC, pages 254–255:

(not comparable, Roman mythology) Pertaining to Mercury, the Roman god of, among other things, commerce, financial gain, communication, and thieves and trickery; hence (comparable), money-making; crafty.

Mercurial

pertaining to the Roman god Mercury or planet Mercury


kaj

From Armenian քաջ (kʻaǰ), քաջք (kʻaǰkʻ).

There existed destructive female demons called parik, whose husbands were known as kaj.

2006, The Cambridge History of Iran, volume 3, pt.1: Iran, Armenia and Georgia, page 611

(Armenian mythology) A spirit of storm and wind;


Lemuria

Lemuria (continent)
en:Lemuria (disambiguation)

(mythology) A mythical lost country, continent, or island proposed to explain the existence of lemurs and their relatives on two continents.


Larissa

(Greek mythology) A nymph with a local cult near the city of Larissa, Thessaly.


fate

en-noun

fate (countable and uncountable, plural fates)

From Latin fāta (“prediction”), plural of fātum, from fātus (“spoken”), from for (“to speak”). In this sense, displaced native Old English wyrd, whence Modern English weird.

(mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Fate (one of the goddesses said to control the destiny of human beings).

Fate

རླུང་རྟའི་ལྷ་མོ (rlung rta'i lha mo, literally “goddess of the wind horse, where ‘wind horse’ means fortune/fame/luck”)


Python

From Ancient Greek Πύθων (Púthōn), from Πῡθώ (Pūthṓ), the early name of Delphi, from πύθω (púthō, “to rot, to decay”).
The programming language is named after Monty Python.

Here Apollo killed a serpent called the Python, and established a great prophetic shrine. Sometimes it is said that the Titaness Themis had the shrine before him, and this, as well as the killing of the Python, suggests that Apollo took over a place already of religious significance, associated with chthonic (i.e., earth) powers.

1995, Gordon MacDonald Kirkwood, A Short Guide to Classical Mythology, page 11:

It would seem, therefore, that what we have on the Phasian phiale is the Python coiled round the omphalos.[…]Paintings on Greek pottery and coins have preserved many an example of gods seated on an omphalos, including those of Apollo, Nike, Asclepius and others.⁴¹³ Python on the omphalos must have carried some symbolic meaning.

2000, Otar Lordkipanidze, Phasis: The River and City in Colchis, page 70:

Python, says Bailey, is derived from Putho to putrify, and the serpent Python being slain by Apollo, is thus interpreted: by Python is understood the ruin of the waters; Apollo slew this serpent with his arrows; that is, the beams of the sun dispersed the noxious vapours, which destroyed man like a devouring serpent.

2005, M. A. Dwight, Taylor Lewis, Grecian and Roman Mythology, page 183:

(Greek mythology) The earth-dragon of Delphi, represented as a serpent, killed by Apollo.


Acheron

Borrowed from Latin Acherōn, from Ancient Greek Ἀχέρων (Akhérōn), probably Pre-Greek but folk-etymologically said to be from ἄχος (ákhos, “pain, distress”) + ῥέον (rhéon, “stream”).

af

And pull her out of Acheron by the heels

c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

Acheron and Phlegeton, which a subterraneous fire causes to boil, are the billows of that hell which was visited by Æneas.

1807, [Germaine] de Staël Holstein, translated by D[ennis] Lawler, “[[Book XIII. Vesuvius and the plain of Naples.] Chap[ter] IV.] The extempore effusion of Corinna on the Plain of Naples.”, in Corinna; or, Italy. […], volume III, London: […] Corri, […]; and sold by Colburn, […], and Mackenzie, […], →OCLC, page 234:

Behold! I rise from primal silence / As a storm crushing dismal shores ov Acheron

(Greek mythology) A river in the infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets, it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.


antelope

→ Irish: antalóp

→ Manx: antelope

From Middle English antelope, from Old French antelop, from Medieval Latin antilops, from Byzantine Greek ἀνθόλοψ (anthólops), which is of obscure origin.

(archaic, mythology) A fierce legendary creature said to live on the banks of the Euphrates, having long serrated horns and being hard to catch.


Zeus

From Ancient Greek Ζεύς (Zeús). Doublet of Dyeus and Jove.

(Greek mythology) Supreme ruler of all Greek gods, husband to Hera.


dis

In Norway the Dîsir appear to have been held in great veneration.

1851, Benjamin Thorpe, Northern Mythology, E Lumley, page 116:

A number of places in Norway and Sweden were also named after the Disir

1993, Hilda Ellis Davidson, The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe, Routledge, page 113:

Bard had prepared a feast for him, because a sacrifice was being made to the disir.

1997, ‘Egil's Saga’, translated by Bernard Scudder, The Sagas of Icelanders, Penguin, published 2001, page 67:

(Norse mythology) Any of a group of minor female deities in Scandinavian folklore.


manticore

/ˈmæntɪˌkɔɹ/

From Latin mantichōras, from Ancient Greek μαρτιχόρας (martikhóras, “man-eater; tiger”), from Old Persian *martyahvārah (“man-eater”), from 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹 (m-r-t-i-y /martyaʰ/, “man”).

der

Now may I present to you the basilisk?
Please down your goggles if you wish to resist
From the fiery depths of the planet’s core
The never sleeping for want of eating unholy stench of the manticore

2005, “Circus Maximus”, performed by Clutch:

(Greek mythology) A beast with the body of a lion (usually red), the tail of a scorpion, and the head/face of a man with a mouth filled with multiple rows of sharp teeth (like a shark), said to be able to shoot spikes from its tail or mane to paralyse prey. It may be horned, winged, or both; its voice is described as a mixture of pipes and trumpets.


alce

Ar. a fesse betw. three alces’ or griffins’ heads erased sa.

1842, John Burke, John Bernard Burke, A General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, London: […] Edward Churton, […]:

Alce. The Male Griffin. […] Alice, or Alce. The Male Gryphon.

[1889, Charles Norton Elvin, A Dictionary of Heraldry with Upwards of Two Thousand Five Hundred Illustrations, London: Kent & Cᵒ […]; East Dereham: W. H. Brown, […], page 4, column 2:

XV. CHARGES taken from MONSTERS. Monsters with Wings. Griffin. Dragon. Alce. Opinicus. […] Alce. See Griffin. […] The term Alce is given, as if used by writers for a kind of griffin, but no example can be quoted.

[1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, new edition, Oxford, Oxon, London: James Parker and Co., pages xvii, 9, and 294:

[…] griffin seems to have an existence in theory only; nevertheless he must be catalogued, together with the word alce, which is accepted (though not without dissent) as the individual name for the horned griffin.

[1963, Julian Franklyn, Shield and Crest: An Account of the Art and Science of Heraldry, 2nd edition, MacGibbon & Kee, page 149:

Infrequently, a griffin is portrayed without wings; in 15th-century and later heraldry such a beast may be called an ‘alce’ or a ‘keythong.’

[2001, Osita Iroku, A Day in the Life of God, →ISBN, page 85:

Folks gave the beast many names. Griffin, griffon, gryphon, alce, keythong, gryphen, griffen, gryphen, and opinicus…

[2009, Benjamin Towe, The First Wandmaker (Elfdreams of Parallan; II), Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 20:

"It has no wings! I thought that griffins were lions with an eagle head and wings." / "I'm sure that this female Alce doesn't prefer to be called 'it,'" Ryu said pointedly. / "Alce?" / "Yes. A so-called wingless griffin. But they are two different creatures."

2009, Nicole Zoltack, Woman of Honor (The Kingdom of Arnhem; 1), Newhall, Calif.: Desert Breeze Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

The more common representation of the griffin is the female griffin, a creature with wings. Male griffins do NOT have wings and are termed “alces” or “keythongs.”

[2009 June, The Celator, volume 23, number 6:

They’d befriended him because he fed them the tastiest morsels, Alce, the gilded griffin, preferred Marvel while Keythong, the agate stone one, craved DC Comics.

2010, Shirin Dubbin, Dreams’ Dark Kiss, Carina Press, Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN:

figure 11 Cloven-hoofed, wingless griffin (also called an alce or a keythong in later heraldry) symbolizing the sun, and two-legged dragon (wyvern) symbolizing the moon.

[2011, Marc Michael Epstein, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination, New Haven, Conn., London: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 58:

Alce / Variations: Anthalops, Alcida, Calopus, Keythong, Panthalops, Tapopus / In heraldic symbology the alce is a wingless, male griffin with rays or spikes of gold protruding from several parts of its body; on occasion it also sports two long straight horns atop its head. A pair of such creatures is present on the coat of arms of the Earl of Ormande.

2016, Theresa Bane, Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters in Myth, Legend and Folklore, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 22, column 1:

Adventurer’s Tip: Do not confuse [the griffin] with similar hybrids, such as the alce (a wingless griffin) or the alphyn (a lion with eagle claws for front legs).

2019, Blanca Martínez de Rituerto, Joe Sparrow, Dungeons & Drawings: An Illustrated Compendium of Creatures, Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN:

(rare, mythology) A mythical beast resembling a griffin with no wings, often classified as a male griffin.


centaur

From Latin centaurus, from Ancient Greek κένταυρος (kéntauros), from Κένταυρος (Kéntauros, “a member of a savage race from Thessaly”).

(Greek mythology) A mythical beast having a horse's body with a man's head and torso in place of the head and neck of the horse.


basilisk

From Middle English basilicke, borrowed from Old French basilique, from Latin basiliscus, from Ancient Greek βασιλίσκος (basilískos) (literally "minor king or chieftain", possibly based on descriptions or rare encounters with different types of cobra which have crown-like patterns on their head; the "deadly gaze" could have been from the spitting cobra's ability to spit venom into the eyes of predators or prey from a distance), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”). The cognitohazard/infohazard sense is by analogy with the deadly gaze of the mythical creature.

the deadly look of the basilisk

The queſtion is in vvhat part of this Serpent the poyſon doth lye; Some ſay in the head alone, and that therefore the Bazeliske is deafe, bycauſe the Ayre vvhich ſerueth the Organe of hearing, is reſolued by the intenſiue calidity: but this ſeemeth not to bee true, […]

1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Cockatrice”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 124:

And without more ado she […] fixed her wonderful eyes upon me - more deadly than any Basilisk's - and pierced me through and through with their beauty, and sent her light laugh ringing through the air like chimes of silver bells.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

As a revolutionary act of prophecy in an age of political science, Wissenkunst is a unique and anarchic expression of freedom, and not a new and aspiring system of indoctrination. If Wissenkunst is itself turned into political apologetics, then the fabulous plumed serpent is turned into a monster, a basilisk.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 249:

(mythology) A mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.


leviathan

From Middle English levyethan, levyathan, etc., from Late Latin leviathan, a transliteration of Biblical Hebrew לִוְיָתָן (liv'yatán).

Canſt thou dravv out Leuiathan vvith an hooke? or his tongue vvith a corde vvhich thou letteſt dovvne?

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Job 41:1, column 1:

The fog seemed to break away as though split by a wedge, and the bow of a steamboat emerged, trailing fog-wreaths on either side like seaweed on the snout of Leviathan.

1904, Jack London, chapter 1, in The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:

(biblical, mythology) A vast sea monster of tremendous strength, described as the most powerful and dangerous creature in the ocean.


nymph

From Middle English nimphe, from Old English nymphē and Old French nimphe, both from Latin nympha (“nymph, bride”), from Ancient Greek νύμφη (númphē, “bride”). Doublet of nympha.

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Any female nature spirit associated with water, forests, grotto, wind, etc.

нимфа

mythology: water, forest or mountain spirit


Venus

From Middle English Venus, from Latin Venus.

Their figures are universally models for brunette Venuses, and their feet arch like rainbows, and are Cinderellian in size.

1888 June 2, “Senoritas of Brazil. [Chicago Mail.]”, in The Cincinnati Enquirer, volume XLVI, number 154, page 13, column 3:

(Roman mythology) The goddess of love, beauty, fertility, and sexuality; the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite.


ren

Learned borrowing from Egyptian rn, r:n-A2

For the Ren did not belong to the man, but came out of the Celestial Waters to enter an infant in the hour of his birth and might not stir again until it was time to go back.

(Egyptian mythology) One’s name, as part of the soul in ancient Egyptian mythology.


imp

From Middle English impe, ympe (“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”) [and other forms], from Old English impa, impe (“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1).

"Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score," said the lad.—"Well, that's the troll," said the horse; "he is coming after us with his imps."

1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “The Widow’s Son”, in H[ans] L[ien] Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log: Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 218:

It was as if there were little imps dancing in my mouth, and every so often, when a situation arose, they'd get together, giggle wickedly, and try to push words out of my open mouth.

1981 December 1, Ruth Geller, “The Lesbian Teacher”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 5:

(chiefly fiction and mythology) A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2).


Saturn

From Old English Sætern, from Latin Sāturnus, probably from Etruscan 𐌔𐌀𐌕𐌓𐌄 (satre), plausibly influenced by Latin satus, past participle of serere (“to sow”).

(Roman mythology) The god of fertility and agriculture, equivalent to the Greek Kronos.


sphinx

From Middle English Spynx, from Latin Sphinx, from Ancient Greek Σφίγξ (Sphínx), perhaps either from σφίγγω (sphíngō, “to squeeze, to strangle”) (whence also sphincter), of Pre-Greek origin, or from Egyptian Szp:p-A53-anx-n:x (šzp-ꜥnḫ, “divine image”, literally “living image”).

<i class="Latn mention" lang="egy">šzp-ꜥnḫ</i>

[W]hatsoe'er of strange / Sculptured on alabaster obelisk, / Or jasper tomb, or mutilated sphynx, / Dark Æthiopia in her desert hills. / Conceals.

1815 September 10 – December 14, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude”, in Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude: And Other Poems, London: […] Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, […]; and Carpenter and Son, […] [b]y S[amuel] Hamilton, […], published 1816, →OCLC, page 9:

(mythology) A creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal, commonly a lion.

أَبُو الهَوْل

mythology: creature with the head of a person and the body of an animal


fairy

en-noun

fairy (countable and uncountable, plural fairies)

From Middle English faierie, fairie, from Old French faerie, from fae + -erie, from Latin fāta (“goddess of fate”). Equivalent to fey + -ry. Attested in English from about 1330, in King Alisaunder, first in the sense of "enchantment, illusion, dream" ("that thou herdest is fairye") and shortly thereafter "realm of the fays, fairy-land" and "the inhabitants of fairyland, collectively". The re-interpretation of the term as a countable noun denoting individual inhabitants of fairy-land can be traced to the 1390s, but became common only in the 16th century, perhaps due to reinterpreting phrases like faerie knight.

"They used to say there were fairies in that hill, I must tell you!"

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 51:

(mythology) A mythical being of human form with magical powers, known in many sizes and descriptions, although often depicted in modern illustrations only as a small sprite with gauze-like wings, especially one that is female. Fairies are revered in some modern forms of paganism.


gnome

From French gnome (“gnome”), from New Latin gnomus, used by Paracelsus as a synonym for pygmaeus (“pygmy”).

When the trees were disposed of, the gnomes vanished again.

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 226:

There were not one but four gnomes standing at his feet. “I nearly trod on you,” Daniel said. “What are you doing here?”
The gnomes just stood, looking up at him.

2011, Ross Lawhead, The Realms Thereunder, page 251:

(mythology, fantasy) One of a race of imaginary human-like beings, usually depicted as short and typically bearded males, who inhabit the inner parts of the earth and act as guardians of mines, mineral treasure, etc.; in modern fantasy literature and games, when distinguished from dwarves, gnomes are usually smaller than dwarves and more focused on engineering than mining.


cornucopia

cornucopia (countable and uncountable, plural cornucopias or cornucopiae or (archaic) cornucopiæ)

cornucopias (plural)
cornucopiae (plural)
cornucopiæ (archaic plural)

Borrowed from Latin cornūcōpia (“mythical horn of plenty”), from cornū (“horn”) + cōpia (“abundance”).

bor+

Device, an anchor held by a hand from the clouds: behind the anchor are a kind of brackets, in the form of cornucopiæ, croſſed; […]

1786, Typographical Antiquities: or An Historical Account of the Origin and Progress of Printing in Great Britain and Ireland: […], volume II, London: […] [F]or the Editor, and sold by Mr. T. Payne and Son, […], page 1163:

It soon came: as they were on their way to a transparency of their majesties, not a little larger than life—with Bellona, in a very handsome helmet, on one side, and Peace, with a cornucopia and a full blown wreath of roses, on the other—the path was interrupted by a little knot of gentlemen.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 59:

So far as Swedenborg’s elucidation extends, it is comprised in seven groupings of this family; and, possibly, the Hebraic forms of the several names which are included in them, may at some future period, like so many cornucopiæ of wisdom, yield abundance of precious fruit to the Biblical student.

1849, Elihu Rich, A Biographical Sketch of Emanuel Swedenborg: With an Account of His Works, London: E. Rich, […], page 139:

A head of Trajan, between two cornucopiæ, under which is a winged foot, with a caduceus and a dolphin.

1851, B[ram] Hertz, Catalogue of the Collection of Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, Indian, Peruvian and Mexican Antiquities, London: […], page 46:

On these the details of the cornucopiae resemble those familiar in the Hellenistic world: from the horn, filleted and filled to overflowing with bunches of grapes, […]

1975, Yaʻaḳov Meshorer, Nabataean Coins, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, page 25:

The three cornucopiae which branch out to hold the candles are apparently unparalleled and this in itself offers some encouragement for regarding the pieces as by Giuseppe, for the majority of his designs seem to have been cast once only (counting for this purpose a pair as a unique item, as with the lower parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum firedogs).

1981, Charles Avery, Studies in European Sculpture, Christie’s, →ISBN, page 66:

There are other mysteries expressed by the bison horn, the Paleolithic original of which the classical cornucopia is a copy: the horn of plenty is the universal vulva from which emerge all the creatures of life, plants, animals, and humans.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 105:

The two cornucopiae carried by the figure likely identify her as Isis, but they also make clear her inanimate status.

2021, Stephanie Pearson, “[The Lure of Egyptian Treasures] Egyptian Gods as Lamp Stands”, in The Triumph and Trade of Egyptian Objects in Rome: Collecting Art in the Ancient Mediterranean, De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 69:

(Greek mythology) A goat's horn endlessly overflowing with fruit, flowers and grain; or full of whatever its owner wanted: or, an image of a such a horn, either in two or three dimensions.

قرن الوفرة

mythical horn endlessly overflowing with food and drink


bunyip

The bunyip here was considered to have a magical power over humans, causing them considerable misfortune. Places where there were many eels tended to be where bunyips lived, as this was their food. On one occasion, Aboriginal people claimed that a bunyip lured a woman to her death by distracting her with a large catch of eels. It was considered extremely bad luck to kill or injure a bunyip.

2007, Janet Parker, Julie Stanton, editors, Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies, page 387:

According to the stories, the Bunyip comes in many different shapes and sizes—some are covered in feathers, while others have scales like a crocodile. Most Aboriginal drawings show the Bunyip with a tail like a horse, and flippers and tusks like a walrus.

2008, Oliver Ho, Mysteries Unwrapped: Mutants & Monsters, page 26:

One particularly fierce bunyip described by Smith was well known as a man-eater throughout south Australia.

2009, David D. Gilmore, Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors, page 150:

(Australia, cryptozoology, mythology) A mythical Australian monster, said to inhabit swamps and lagoons.


demon

Anthony the Great
Michelangelo
en:demon
en:demon (disambiguation)

From Middle English demon, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn (“lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit”), from Ancient Greek δαίμων (daímōn, “dispenser, god, protective spirit”). Doublet of daimon.

daimon

now chiefly in reference to the ancient Greek spirit

(Greek mythology) A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.


Adonis

The Phœnician Adonis was identical with Tammūz.

1866, Sabine Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, S. George:

1900, James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Chapter 42: Osiris and the Sun,
A strong reason for interpreting the death of Osiris as the decay of vegetation rather than as the sunset is to be found in the general, though not unanimous, voice of antiquity, which classed together the worship and myths of Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, and Demeter, as religions of essentially the same type. The consensus of ancient opinion on this subject seems too great to be rejected as a mere fancy. So closely did the rites of Osiris resemble those of Adonis at Byblus that some of the people of Byblus themselves maintained that it was Osiris and not Adonis whose death was mourned by them.

1921, Jessie Weston, From Ritual to Romance, Chapter X: The Secret of the Grail (1) - The Mysteries,
As Sir J. G. Frazer has before now pointed out, there are parallel and over-lapping forms of this cult, the name of the god, and certain details of the ritual, may differ in different countries, but whether he hails from Babylon, Phrygia, or Phoenicia, whether he be called Tammuz, Attis, or Adonis, the main lines of the story are fixed, and invariable. Always he is young and beautiful, always the beloved of a great goddess; always he is the victim of a tragic and untimely death, a death which entails bitter loss and misfortune upon a mourning world, and which, for the salvation of that world, is followed by a resurrection.

(Greek mythology) A beautiful young man loved by Aphrodite.


Wheel of Fortune

(mythology, philosophy) The wheel of Fortune.


panic

en-adj

panic (comparative more panic, superlative most panic)

more panic (comparative)
most panic (superlative)

The adjective is borrowed from Middle French panique, a word itself borrowed from Ancient Greek πανικός (panikós, “pertaining to Pan”); Pan, the Greek god of fields and woods, was believed to be the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots.
Adjective sense 3 (“pertaining to or resulting from overpowering fear or fright”) is partly an attributive use of the noun.
The noun is derived from the adjective, while the verb is derived from the noun. Verb sense 1.3 (“to highly amuse, entertain, or impress (an audience watching a performance or show”) is derived from noun sense 4 (“a highly amusing or entertaining performer, performance, or show”).

der

(Greek mythology, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of Panic (“pertaining to the Greek god Pan”)


Thor

Representing Old Norse Þórr. Cognate with Old English Þunor, Swedish Tor.

So likewise a day comes when the Runic Thor, with his Eddas, must withdraw into dimness; and many an African Mumbo-Jumbo and Indian Pawpaw be utterly abolished.

1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Symbols”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 155:

(Norse mythology) A hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, and the protection of mankind.


Neptune

From Middle English Neptune, Neptunus, a borrowing from Latin Neptūnus, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰ-tu-s (“damp, cloudy”) (source of Ancient Greek νέφος (néphos), Sanskrit नभस् (nábhas), etc.), with the sense of "wet, moist."
Puhvel, however, connects it with Proto-Italic *nepōts from Proto-Indo-European *népōts by analogy to Portūnus, cognate with Vedic Apām Napāt and Avestan Apąm Napāt, Child (cf: neve, nephew) of the Water as part of an Indo-European 'Fire in the Water' myth.

Neptune
Neptune (disambiguation)#Places
Neptune (god)

(Roman mythology) The god of the ocean and of earthquakes, equivalent to Poseidon in Greek mythology.


Pluto

From Latin Plūtō, from Ancient Greek Πλούτων (Ploútōn, “god of the underworld”). Venetia Burney is often credited as having suggested the name for the celestial body.

bor

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) Greco-Roman god of the underworld.


Uranus

Borrowed from Latin Ūranus, from Ancient Greek Οὐρανός (Ouranós), from οὐρανός (ouranós, “sky, heaven”).

(Greek mythology) The Greek god who personified the sky and heavens and fathered the Titans. Roman counterpart: Caelus.


Aeneas

From Latin Aenēās, from Ancient Greek Αἰνείας (Aineías).

(Greek mythology) A Trojan hero and the legendary ancestor of Romans.


demigod

From demi- + god. Calque of the Latin semideus (“half-god”), which is probably a coining by the Roman poet Ovid for less important gods such as dryads.

(mythology) A half-god or hero; the offspring of a deity and a mortal.


cyclops

en-noun

cyclops (plural cyclops or cyclopes or cyclopses)

cyclops (plural)
cyclopes (plural)
cyclopses (plural)

Borrowed from Latin cyclōps, from Ancient Greek Κύκλωψ (Kúklōps, “Cyclops”), q.v.

der

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A one-eyed giant from Greek and Roman mythology.


ghoul

Portuguese: ghoul

From Persian غول (ğul) from Arabic غُول (ḡūl). Compare French goule, of the same origin.

The other chamber had shown a pack of ghouls and witches over-running the world of our forefathers, but this one brought the horror right into our own daily life!.

From my laboratory in the Castle east
To the master bedroom, where the vampires feast
The ghouls all came from their humble abodes
To get a jolt from my electrodes
They did the Mash
They did the Monster Mash.

1962, “Monster Mash”, Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Lenny Capizzi (lyrics), performed by Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers:

(mythology) A demon said to feed on corpses.


golem

bor

גולם \ גֹּלֶם

(mythology) A humanoid creature made from clay, animated by magic.


Amazon

From Middle English, from Latin, from Ancient Greek Ἀμαζών (Amazṓn); perhaps Ionian Greek pronunciation of Old Persian *hamazan- (“warrior”), as the Amazon women were known warriors. A popular folk etymology, of Ancient Greek provenance, claims that the word derives from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μαζός (mazós, “breast”), referencing the belief that Amazons cut off their right breast so that it would not hinder their ability to fire a bow or throw a spear.

When, therefore, one envisions a matriarchy, one should not conjure up visions of a gang of Amazons lopping off breasts and testicles to rule by force of arms.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 149:

(Greek mythology) A member of a mythical race of female warriors inhabiting the Black Sea area.


Keb

(Egyptian mythology) Alternative form of Geb


aegis

Borrowed from Latin aegis, from Ancient Greek αἰγίς (aigís, “goatskin; shield of Athena”), probably from αἴξ (aíx, “goat”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“goat”).
The plural form aegides (IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/) is borrowed from Latin aegides, from Ancient Greek αἰγῐ́δες (aigídes).

IPA

IPA⁽ᵏᵉʸ⁾: /ˈiːd͡ʒɪdiːz/

покровителство

endorsement, sponsorship — see also endorsement, sponsorship

The goat Amalthea, which had suckled Jove, being dead, that god is said to have covered his buckler with the skin thereof, whence the appellation Aegis, from αιξ, αιγις, a she-goat. Jupiter afterwards restoring the goat to life, covered it with a new skin, and placed it among the stars. This buckler, which was the work of Vulcan, he gave to Minerva, who having killed the Gorgon Medusa, nailed her head to the middle of the Aegis, which henceforth possessed the faculty of converting to stone all who beheld it, as Medusa herself had while alive.

1790, “AEGIS”, in Bell’s New Pantheon; or, Historical Dictionary of the Gods, Demi-gods, Heroes, and Fabulous Personages of Antiquity: … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Printed by and for J[ohn] Bell, […], →OCLC, page 20, column 1:

Herodotus, as proof of this origin of Minerva, says, that the Greeks had taken from the Libyan women, the dress and the ægis with which her statues were represented: this dress was of leather: the ægis, as its name implies, was simply a goatskin died red and worn over the shoulders like a mantle: the extremity of it was cut into shreds or tassels, which the lively fancy of the Grecian artists converted into serpents.

1822, James Millingen, Painted Greek Vases, from Collections in Various Countries: […] (Ancient Unedited Monuments; series 1), London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 3:

The robe and aegides of the statues of Minerva the Greeks have made in imitation of the Lybians, for except that the robe among the Lybians is of leather and the fringes of the aegis are not serpents but strips of leather, the adorning is entirely the same. And the very name is an acknowledgement that the vesture of the palladium is derived from Lybia, for the Lybian women put around the robe their goat skins tasselled and stained with madder (ἐρευθεδάνω) and from these goat skins, (ἐχ δὲ τῶν αἰγἑων τουτἑων) the Greeks have taken the word aegis.

1837, F. M. Hubbard, quoting Herodotus, “Article III. An Inquiry into the Commerce of Ancient Egypt.”, in B[ela] B[ates] Edwards, editor, The American Biblical Repository, volume X, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Gould & Newman, publishers and printers, Boston, Mass.: Perkins & Marvin and Crocker & Brewster, Cincinnati, Oh.: Truman & Smith, →OCLC, page 49:

In her right hand Minerva bore a beaming lance, and in her left a buckler, called the Egis. The Egis of Minerva had embossed upon it the head of Medusa.

1849, [Eliza Robbins], “Minerva”, in Elements of Mythology; or, Classical Fables of the Greeks and Romans: […], 11th improved edition, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published and for sale by Hogan & Thompson […], →OCLC, page 57:

Cattle grazed where now is the Forum Romanum, and the Capitol, now glittering with gold, was covered then with brambles; nevertheless a god already dwelt there, even Jupiter himself, whose right hand had oft been seen to shake the aegis and summon the storm-clouds.

1934 November, Theodor Haecker, “Leader and Mission”, in A[rthur] W[esley] Wheen, transl., Virgil, Father of the West (Essays in Order; no. 14), London: Sheed & Ward, →OCLC, page 65:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology) A mythological shield associated with the Greek deities Zeus and Athena (and their Roman counterparts Jupiter and Minerva) shown as a short cloak made of goatskin worn on the shoulders, more as an emblem of power and protection than a military shield. The aegis of Athena or Minerva is usually shown with a border of snakes and with the head of Medusa in the center.


cyclopean

en-adj

cyclopean (comparative more cyclopean, superlative most cyclopean)

more cyclopean (comparative)
most cyclopean (superlative)


wyvern

Alteration of Middle English wyver (“viper”), borrowed from Old Northern French wivre, from Latin vīpera (“viper; snake, serpent”). Doublet of weever and viper.

The jargon of heraldry, its griffins, its moldwarps, its wyverns, and its dragons.

1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:

Notions of freedom are tied up in drink / Our ideal life contains a tavern / Where man may sit and talk of or just think / All without fear of the nighted wyvern, / Or yet another tavern where it appears.

1940-54 The Collected Poetry of Malcolm Lowry, "WE SIT UNHACKLED DRUNK AND MAD TO EDIT", UBC Press,1992, p.222

(heraldry, mythology, fantasy) A draconian creature possessing wings, only two legs and usually a barbed tail.


hippocampus

en-noun

hippocampus (plural hippocampi or hippocampuses)

hippocampi (plural)
hippocampuses (plural)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-hippocampus.wav

From Late Latin hippocampus, from Ancient Greek ἱππόκαμπος (hippókampos, from ῐ̔́ππος (híppos, “horse”) + κάμπος (kámpos, “sea-monster”)). The anatomy sense is so named from its resemblance to the seahorse.

der

(mythology) A mythological creature with the front head and forelimbs of a horse and the rear of a dolphin.


werewolf

From Middle English werwolf, from Old English werewulf, from Proto-West Germanic *werawulf, from Proto-West Germanic *wer (“man”) + *wulf (“wolf”). By surface analysis, were- + wolf. Cognate with Dutch weerwolf, Low German Warwulf, German Werwolf, Danish varulv, Swedish varulv, and even possibly Finnish vironsusi.
Compare also French garou, in loup-garou, French dialectal gairou, varou (“werewolf”), Medieval Latin gerulphus, garulphus (“werewolf”), all from Germanic, probably Frankish *werawulf.

Near-synonym: dogman

(mythology) A person who is transformed or can transform into a wolf or a wolflike human, often said to do so during a full moon.


ouroboros

en-noun

ouroboros (plural ouroboroi or ouroboroses)

From Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος (ourobóros, “tail-devouring”, a compound of οὐρά (ourá, “tail”) + -βόρος (-bóros, “-devouring”, which is derived from the verb βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”))).

af

which is derived from the verb <i class="Polyt mention" lang="grc">βιβρώσκω</i> (bibrṓskō, “to eat up”)

bor

The alchemists were fond of picturing their opus as a circulatory process, as a circular distillation or as the uroboros, the snake biting its own tail, and they made innumerable pictures of this process.

1968 [1951], R. F. C. Hull, transl., Aion […] (The Collected Works of C. G. Jung), 2nd edition, volume 9.2, Princeton University Press, translation of original by C. G. Jung, →ISBN, page 264:

Khepera eating his own seed is a model of Romantic creativity, where the self is isolated and sexually dual. Khepera bent over himself is a uroboros, the serpent eating its own tail, a magic circle of regeneration and rebirth. The uroboros is the prehistoric track of natural cycle, from which Judaism and Hellenism make a conceptual break.

1990, Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 41:

One myth speaks of Ouroboros, a serpent-like creature that survived and regenerated itself by eating only its own tail. By neither taking from nor adding to its environment, this creature was said to be completely environmentally benign and self-sufficient.

2004, Adrian Bejan et al., Porous and Complex Flow Structures in Modern Technologies, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 121:

First, the snake has not caught its tail—the ouroboros figure is uncompleted. Blake executed fully formed ouroboros figures for the verso of this Night Thoughts page and for a later passage (6:690-92), and was familiar with numerous full ouroboros figures from contemporary and earlier sources […]

2013, Jackie DiSalvo, G. A. Rosso, Christopher Z. Hobson eds., Blake, Politics, and History, Routledge, →ISBN:

(mythology) A serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail, a representation of the continuous cycle of life and death.

أوربوروس

a serpent, dragon or worm that eats its own tail


einherjar

From Old Norse einherjar (plural, literally “lone fighters”) (rarely attested singular einheri).

(Norse mythology) The warriors who died fighting bravely and were brought by valkyries to Valhalla, where they feast and prepare for Ragnarok.


kitsune

(Japanese mythology) A Japanese fox spirit, often but not exclusively female, said to have powers such as shape-shifting, and whose power is symbolized by increase in number of tails.


tanuki

Borrowed from Japanese 狸(たぬき) (tanuki, “raccoon dog”).

(Japanese mythology) A folkloric figure in the form of a tanuki, regarded as a shapeshifter and renowned for its enormous scrotum and testicles.


lycanthropy

en-noun

lycanthropy (usually uncountable, plural lycanthropies)

From Ancient Greek λυκανθρωπία (lukanthrōpía), from λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos, “wolfman”). By surface analysis, lycanthrope + -y.

uder

(mythology) The state of being a lycanthrope (or werewolf), a person who can shapeshift between the form of a human being and a wolf, often said to happen involuntarily during a full moon; werewolfdom.

On one hand, Jacques is quite glad that he doesn’t have classic lycanthropy. Turning into a squirrel tends to cause fewer problems than turning into a wolf.

2014, Marijn Haverbeke, “4: Data Structures: Objects and Arrays”, in Eloquent JavaScript, 2nd Ed.: A Modern Introduction to Programming, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 60:

(mythology, by extension) The state of being a person who can shapeshift between the form of a human being and an animal, whether or not it is a wolf.


Ahti

(Egyptian mythology) A goddess in Egyptian mythology.


giant

/ˈd͡ʒʌɪ.ənt/

[ˈd͡ʒəɪ̯(ə)nt]

From Middle English geaunt, geant, from Old French geant, gaiant (Modern French géant) from Vulgar Latin *gagās, gagant-, from Latin gigās, gigant-, from Ancient Greek γίγας (gígas, “giant”) Cognate to giga- (“1,000,000,000”). Displaced native Old English ent. Compare Modern English ent (“giant tree-man”).

Any of the gigantes, the race of giants in the Greek mythology.

(mythology, fantasy) Specifically:
A jotun.


orc

→ Catalan: orc

→ Czech: ork

→ Danish: ork

→ Dutch: ork

→ Estonian: örk

→ Finnish: örkki

→ French: orc

→ Georgian: ორკი (orḳi)

→ Greek: ορκ (ork)

→ Hungarian: ork

→ Icelandic: orki

→ Japanese: オーク (ōku)

→ Korean: 오크 (okeu)

→ Latvian: orks

→ Lithuanian: orkas

→ Marathi: ऑर्क (ŏrka)

→ Norwegian: ork, orc

→ Polish: ork

→ Portuguese: orc

→ Romanian: orc

→ Russian: орк (ork)

→ Serbo-Croatian: ork / орк

→ Swedish: ork

→ Ukrainian: орк (ork)

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
J. R. R. Tolkien
orc

Probably from Italian orco (“man-eating giant”); later revived by J. R. R. Tolkien, partly after Old English orc, which he took to mean "demon". Both are from Latin Orcus (“the underworld; the god Pluto”). Doublet of ogre and Orcus.
Sense 2 is a semantic loan from Ukrainian орк (ork, “evil monstrous humanoid creature; orc”) or Russian орк (ork), both from the English word and possibly under the influence of Russian у́рка (úrka, “criminal”, prison slang). Popularized in English in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

m+

Who at one stroke didst pare away three heads from off the shoulders of an Orke, begotten by an Incubus.

1656, Samuel Holland, Don Zara del Fogo, I.1:

The chief exploit of the hero, Beowulf the Great, is the destruction of the two monsters Grendel and his mother; both like most of the evil beings in the old times, dwellers in the fens and the waters; and both, moreover, as some Christian bard has taken care to inform us, of "Cain's kin," as were also the eotens, and the elves, and the orcs (eótenas, and ylfe, and orcneas).

1834, "The National Fairy Mythology of England" in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, Vol. 10, p. 53

There was a flash like flame and the helm burst asunder. The orc fell with cloven head.

1954, JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring:

(fantasy, mythology) A mythical evil monstrous humanoid creature, usually quite aggressive and often green.


Medusa

From Middle English Medusa, Meduse, from Latin Medūsa, from Ancient Greek Μέδουσα (Médousa), from μέδω (médō, “rule over”).

1895, Adolf Furtwängler, Eugenie Strong (editor and translator), Masterpieces of Greek Sculpture: A Series of Essays on the History of Art, 2010, →ISBN, page 201,
On an Attic vase of the middle of the fifth century the head of Medusa in the hand of Perseus is represented as that of a beautiful woman free from any distortion. This led us to conclude (supra, p. 158) that Medusa must have been so represented at Athens in the greater arts even previous to this vase, for the vase-painters never invent such bold novelties for themselves.

It will be suggested here that the myth of Perseus, involving the decapitation of Medusa, is a narrative version of ritual.

2000, Nannó Marinatos, The Goddess and the Warrior: The Naked Goddess and Mistress of the Animals in Early Greek Religion, page 62:

But their depictions of Perseus are remarkably different and demonstrate the ambiguity of Medusa that was seeping into Victorian iconography. In later, Roman versions of the myth, for example Ovid's Metamorphoses, Perseus slays the sea monster with his sword instead of using Medusa’s head to petrify the monster.

2001, Dennis Berthold, “Melville's Medusas”, in Sanford E. Marovitz, Athanasios C. Christodoulou, editors, Melville "Among the nations": Proceedings of an International Conference, Volos, Greece, July 2-6, 1997:

(Greek mythology) The youngest and only mortal of the three gorgon sisters, killed by Perseus.

Medusa (Rubens)
Medusa (disambiguation)
Rubens


Charon

Charon
Charon (disambiguation)
Charon (moon)
Edmond Hamilton
NASA

From Ancient Greek Χάρων (Khárōn). The name of the moon was coined by American astronomer James W. Christy in 1978, in reference to a fictional moon of Pluto in a novel by Edmond Hamilton but also influenced by its similarity to Char, a pet name for Charlene, his wife's name — hence the alternative American pronunciation, which is used at NASA.

coin

(Greek mythology) The ferryman of Hades, who rowed the shades of the dead across the river Styx.


Ragnarok

/ˈɹæɡ.nəˌɹɒk/

/ˈɹæɡ.nəˌɹɔk/

Borrowed from Old Norse ragnarǫk (modern Icelandic ragnarök), from regin (“gods”) + rǫk (“fate, judgment”).

Wilhelmina weeps, now and then, with her good Sonsfeld; hopes nevertheless there will be some dawn to this ragnarök, or general ‘twilight of the gods.’

1858, Thomas Carlyle, chapter VIII, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 274:

And all that is before them and the whole civilised world, would be long centuries of anarchy such as the world has not seen for ages—a true Ragnarok, a twilight of the very gods, an age such as the wise woman foretold in the old Voluspà.

1902, Charles Kingsley, “Ancient Civilisation”, in Historical Lectures and Essays, Macmillan and Co.:

But this heaven was not to last forever. Some day would come Ragnarok, or the Twilight of the Gods, when all creation would be destroyed, and all the Gods and men save Alfadur perish. Surtur, after killing the last of these Gods, would burn up the world.

1916 February, H. P. Lovecraft, “The Teuton's Battle-Song”, in United Amateur:

(Norse mythology) A series of future events culminating in a battle, fought between the Æsir and einherjar on one side, and the forces of Surtr, Loki, and Loki's children on the other, in which all of creation is burned down and almost all life is extinguished.


immortality

en-noun

immortality (countable and uncountable, plural immortalities)

/ˌɪmɔːˈtæləti/

/ˌɪmɔːɹˈtæləti/

From Middle English immortalitee, immortalite, from Old French immortalité, from Latin immortālitās.
Morphologically immortal + -ity

خُلُود

condition of not being susceptible to death

In Greek mythology, Tithonus was granted immortality but not eternal youth.

In the little, as in the great things of life, are to be found the type and sign of our immortality. Every hope that looks forward is pledge of the hereafter to which it refers. Who rests content with the present? None. We have all deep within us a craving for the future.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Marriage Morning”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 201:

His one desire was to become the father of a man like himself, and it held him with a grip he only partially understood, for it was the first great desire, the first great passion of his life. Falling in love was a mere physical triviality, like warm sun or cool water, beside this divine hope of immortality: "I continue."

1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread, chapter 4

(religion, mythology, biology) The condition of being immortal.

The condition of being immortal.
Never dying

You have to salute Gerrard's bravery in accepting the challenge of trying to turn Rangers around given that he has zero experience in senior management. Immortality beckons if he does it.

2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport:

The condition of being immortal.
Being remembered forever


Hera

Borrowed from Latin Hēra, from Ancient Greek Ἥρᾱ (Hḗrā).

(Greek mythology) The queen of the gods, and goddess of marriage and birth; daughter of Cronus and Rhea, sister and wife of Zeus, mother of Hephaestus, Ares, Hebe, and Enyo.


pygmy

From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”).

der

Ctesias lived in Persia for several years, as the personal physician of King Ataxerxes II, and would have had contact with travellers to India, and Indian visitors to Persia. He describes dog-headed humans, pygmy men who grow their beards so long that they can be used as clothes, and affirms that it never rains in India.

2015, Sam Miller, A Strange Kind of Paradise: India through Foreign Eyes:

(Greek mythology) A member of a race of dwarfs.

джудже

a member of a mythological race of dwarfs


trickster

1991, Alan R. Velie (compiler and editor), American Indian Literature: An Anthology, Revised edition, page 44,
The trickster is one of the oldest and most widespread of mythological and literary figures. […] As the name implies, the trickster is, on one level—probably the most important—an amoral practical joker who wanders about playing pranks on unsuspecting victims […] With all the fluctuations, certain things about the trickster are predictable: he is always a wanderer, always hungry, and usually oversexed.
Tricksters abound in folktales […] .

And let us begin with those sympathetic elements, the tricksters who obtain the lovers and the land, always at the expense of fools and knaves, sometimes at the expense of other tricksters.

2015, J. Douglas Canfield, Tricksters and Estates: On the Ideology of Restoration Comedy, page 31:

(mythology, literature) Any of numerous figures featuring in various mythologies and folk traditions, who use guile and secret knowledge to challenge authority and play tricks and pranks on others with their acts of trickery; any similar figure in literature.


Persephone

From Ancient Greek Περσεφόνη (Persephónē).

(Greek mythology) A minor deity, the queen of the Underworld/Hades, and goddess of the seasons and vegetation. Originally named Kore/Core, she is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter; and the wife of Hades. Her Roman counterpart is Proserpina.


Demeter

From Ancient Greek Δημήτηρ (Dēmḗtēr), from γῆ (gê, “earth”) + μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”).

Coordinate term: (Roman counterpart) Ceres

(Greek mythology) The goddess of the fertility of the Earth and harvests, protector of marriage and social order; daughter of Cronos and Rhea, mother to Persephone.


Morpheus

Borrowed from Latin Morpheus (possibly coined by Ovid in his Metamorphoses as the god is not mentioned in earlier works), from Ancient Greek Μορφεύς (Morpheús), from μορφή (morphḗ, “form, shape”) (alluding to the fact that Morpheus appeared in dreams in the forms of different people) + -εύς (-eús, suffix forming masculine nouns indicating persons concerned with particular things).

(Greek mythology) The god and personification of dreams; according to the Roman poet Ovid, one of the sons of Somnus, the god of sleep.


Orion

From Middle English Orioun, from Latin Ōrīōn, from Ancient Greek Ὠρίων (Ōríōn), speculatively from Akkadian 𒌋𒊒𒀭𒈾 (Uru-anna, “heaven's light”), though without any firm evidence.

(Greek mythology) A giant-hunter, pursuer of the Pleiades and lover of Eos, and killed by Artemis.


minotaur

/ˈmɪnəˌtɔː(ɹ)/

/ˈmaɪnəˌtɑɹ/

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μινώταυρος (Minṓtauros), from Μίνως (Mínōs, “Minos, king of Crete”) + ταῦρος (taûros, “bull”).

af

(Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Minotaur

مَنْطُور

monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man


Aphrodite

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodítē). Doublet of Aferdita.

bor+

In the "Iliad", Aphrodite is represented as the daughter of Zeus and Dione, the goddess of moisture, who, as the wife of the god of heaven, was held in high esteem among the old Pelasgians.

1877, Otto Seemann, The Mythology of Greece and Rome: With Special Reference to Its Use in Art, page 65:

(Greek mythology) The goddess of beauty and love, born when Cronus castrated his father, Uranus, and threw his genitalia into the sea. Her Roman counterpart is Venus.


pandemic

The meeting of Venus with Phoebe distinguishes her roles: the business of Venus in her pandemic form is to ensure the immortality of the kinds. Her Garden has the voluptuousness necessary to ensure this, and this is 'the first seminarie / Of all things that are borne to live and die / According to their kindes.' [Quoting from Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene.]

1967, Frank Kermode, “World Without End or Beginning”, in The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction (The Mary Flexner Lectures on the Humanities; 1965), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; new edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2000, →ISBN, page 76:

(Greek mythology, Roman mythology, rare) Alternative letter-case form of Pandemic (“of Aphrodite Pandemos, the earthly aspect of the Greek goddess of beauty and love Aphrodite and her Roman counterpart Venus, as contrasted with the heavenly aspect known as Aphrodite Urania: earthly, physical, sensual.”)


Baldur

But the fate of Baldur, the most amiable and beloved of Asa gods, is, we think, by far the most pleasing of the Scandinavian Myths, although less characteristic of the warlike temper just mentioned than some of the others.

1836, The Foreign Quarterly Review, volume 16, page 443:

In the god Baldur the legend recognizes the god of the earth-sun, the earth force. No being of the earth can approach him with hostility. Hence also the god whom the German legend knew to be a straggler, namely Loki, cannot kill Baldur with anything belonging to the earth; he has to kill him with a branch of mistletoe, because this is a stranger among the creations of the earth, and for this reason can serve the straggler, Loki, who is not related to the earth gods.

1993, Rudolf Steiner, Apocalypse of Saint John, page 99:

1997, Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity, A.D. 590—1093, unnumbered page,
A transition from the myth of Baldur to the gospel of Christ cannot have been very difficult to the Scandinavian imagination; and, indeed, it is apparent that the first ideas which the Scandinavian heathens formed of the “White Christ” were influenced by their ideas of Baldur.

The variety of myths prohibits a single answer, but of biblical myths and myths such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, Baldur’s death, the love of Isis and Osiris, and Prometheus, it is accurate to say that they "are marked by their relevance to men's questions about their nature and place in the universe."

2008, Alan Gregory, Quenching Hell: The Mystical Theology of William Law, page 84:

(Norse mythology) The Norse god of light and purity, a son of Odin and Frigg, known for his beauty and near-invulnerability.


Argus

(Greek mythology) A mythical being, also called Argos or Argus Panoptes, with many eyes, a watchman who served Hera; his eyes were later transplanted to the peacock's tail.


dwarf

From Middle English dwergh, dwerw, dwerf, from Old English dweorg, from Proto-West Germanic *dwerg, from Proto-Germanic *dwergaz.
Cognate with Scots dwerch; Old High German twerc (German Zwerg); Old Norse dvergr (Swedish dvärg); Old Frisian dwirg (West Frisian dwerch); Middle Low German dwerch, dwarch, twerg (German Low German Dwarg, Dwarch); Middle Dutch dwerch, dworch (Dutch dwerg).
The Modern English noun has undergone complex phonetic changes. The form dwarf is the regular continuation of Old English dweorg, but the plural dweorgas would have given rise to dwarrows and the oblique stem dweorge- would have led to dwery. These forms are sometimes found as the nominative singular in Middle English texts and in English dialects. A parallel case is that of Old English burg giving burgh, borough, burrow, bury.

dwarf standing on the shoulders of giants

Nidavellir, which is sometimes called Svartalfheim, where the dwarfs (who are also known as dark elves) live beneath the mountains and build their remarkable creations.

2017, Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 20:

(mythology) Any member of a race of beings from (especially Scandinavian and other Germanic) folklore, usually depicted as having some sort of supernatural powers and being skilled in crafting and metalworking, often as short with long beards, and sometimes as clashing with elves.

dwerg

being from folklore, underground dwelling nature spirit


aspect

From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).

suunta

position in respect to points of a compass, the sun, etc.

takoto

of the position of land in relation to the sun

The Mother Goddess in her many manifestations is termed Shakti, the female energy in creation, and worshipped as the supreme female aspect of Brahman.

1995, V.P. Kanitkar, W. Owen Cole, Hinduism — An Introduction:

(religion, mythology) The personified manifestation of a deity that represents one or more of its characteristics or functions.


harpy

Ultimately from Middle French harpie, from Latin harpyia, from Ancient Greek Ἅρπυια (Hárpuia, literally “snatcher”), from ἁρπάζω (harpázō, “I snatch, seize”). Compare rapacious. Middle English had arpie.

harpía

fabulous winged monster with the face of a woman

Both table and provisions vanish'd quite,
With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard.

1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC:

(mythology) A mythological creature generally depicted as a bird-of-prey with the head of a maiden, a face pale with hunger and long claws on her hands personifying the destructive power of storm winds.


nereid

From the stem of Latin Nērēis (“sea-nymph”), from Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς (Nērēḯs), from Νηρεύς (Nēreús, “the sea-god Nereus”).

(Greek mythology) One of 50 sea nymphs who were attendants upon Poseidon (Neptune), and were represented as riding on sea horses, sometimes in human form and sometimes with the tail of a fish.


Europa

From Ancient Greek Εὐρώπη (Eurṓpē), a character name in Greek mythology.
Doublet of Europe.

(Greek mythology) Several characters, most notably a Phoenician princess abducted to Crete by Zeus.


Charybdis

From Ancient Greek Χάρυβδις (Khárubdis).

(Greek mythology) A personification of the above whirlpool as a female monster.


chimera

monolith

antonym(s) of “anything composed of very disparate parts”

Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.

af

...beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun...

1382, John Purvey, Bible, Prologue, p. 31

Bellerophon was commanded to destroy this monster, and with the assistance of the flying horse, Pegasus, he slew the chimera.

1860, E. Cust, “The Chimeras: An Attempt to Show that the Compound Animals of the Assyrian Marbles are Representations of those Erected by Solomon and Jeroboam (Read 1st and 8th December, 1859.)”, in Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, volume XII, Liverpool: Adam Holden, →OCLC, page 99:

The game includes a bunch of chimeras, with the lion heads shooting fire and the snake tails whipping around trying to bite the player.

(Greek mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.

Chimera

A voice had called him forth to think in solitude—a voice he durst not resist, the awful one of the future. It fell on John's heart like the mutter of approaching desolation. He heard it coming on, as the spell-bound in a hideous dream await, wordless and shivering, the progress of some chimera monster, whose grasp is to crush and destroy.

1853, “the O’Hara Family” [pseudonym; John Banim], chapter XV, in The Nowlans, London: Simms and M‘Intyre, Paternoster Row; and Donegall Street, Belfast, →OCLC, page 142:

The Magophonia was essentially the eruption of a long-simmering animosity between the pārsās (who revered Ahura Mazdā) and the Median magi (who believed in the supremacy of Mithra and Apam Napāt). A vivid expression of this animosity is displayed on the door jambs of Persepolis, where Darius is killing with a dagger a chimera monster with a scorpion tail.

2014, Abolala Soudavar, “Appendix II – From the Avesta to Sufi Treatises: A Standard Literary Technique”, in Mithraic Societies: From Brotherhood Ideal to Religion’s Adversary, Houston, Tx.: Abolala Soudavar, →ISBN, page 359:

(mythology, art) Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.

khimaira

any similarly fantastic creature formed of parts from different animals


hermetic

en-adj

hermetic (comparative more hermetic, superlative most hermetic)

more hermetic (comparative)
most hermetic (superlative)

From Medieval Latin hermeticus, irregular derivation of Hermes Trismegistus, the god and mythological alchemist, said to possess a magic ability to seal treasure chests so that nothing could access their contents.

(chiefly capitalized, Greek mythology) Pertaining to ancient Greek Olympian God Hermes


Sisyphean

From Sisyphus, from Ancient Greek Σίσυφος (Sísuphos). Sisyphus was a Greek mythological figure who was doomed to endlessly roll a boulder up a hill in Hades, only to have it roll back down again.


victory

en-noun

victory (countable and uncountable, plural victories)

→ Maori: wikitōriatanga

The noun is derived from Middle English victory, victori, victorie (“supremacy, victory; a defeat or vanquishing, conquest; superior military force; might, power, strength; triumphal celebration or procession; monument commemorating a defeat; superior position, dominance; mastery; moral victory, vindication; success, triumph; redemption, salvation; resurrection of Jesus; means of achieving spiritual victory; reward for or token of perseverance in a spiritual struggle”) [and other forms], borrowed from Anglo-Norman victorie and Old French victorie, a variant of victoire (“victory, win”) (modern French victoire), from Latin victōria (“victory”), from victor (“champion, winner, victor; conqueror, vanquisher”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- (“to contain, envelop; to overcome”)) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). The English word is analysable as victor + -y (suffix forming abstract nouns denoting a condition, quality, or state), and displaced Middle English siȝe, sye.
The interjection is derived from the noun.
cognates
* French victoire
* Italian vittoria
* Portuguese vitoria
* Spanish victoria
* Romanian victorie

nb...

victorye, viktori, vitorie, vittori, vittorie, vyctory, vyktorye, (Kent) fictorie, fyctorye, (Northern England) wictori, wictorie, wictorrie

suffix

snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory

All along the Champs Elysées were […] statues of plaster representing nymphs, triumphs, victories, and other female personages painted in oil so as to represent marble; real marble could have had no better effect, and the appearance of the whole was lively and picturesque in the extreme.

1841, M. A. Titmarsh [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Mr. Titmarsh to Miss Smith on the Second Funeral of Napoleon. Letter III. The Funeral Ceremony.”, in The Second Funeral of Napoleon: […] And The Chronicle of the Drum. […], London: Hugh Cunningham, […], →OCLC, page 63:

(Roman mythology) Alternative letter-case form of Victory (“(uncountable) the Roman goddess of victory, the counterpart of the Greek goddess Nike; also (countable), an artistic depiction of her, chiefly as a winged woman”)


Scylla

From Latin Scylla, from Ancient Greek Σκύλλα (Skúlla).

(Greek mythology) A personification of said rock as a ravenous monster.

Ah cease rash Youth! desist e'er 'tis too late, / Fear the just Gods, and think of Scylla′s Fate!

1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto III:

(Greek mythology) A princess, daughter of King Nisos of Megara, who fell in love with King Minos and betrayed her city to him.


Pegasus

From Late Middle English Pegase, Pegasus, from Latin Pēgasus, from Ancient Greek Πήγασος (Pḗgasos), traditionally associated with πηγή (pēgḗ, “spring, fountain, fountain fed by a spring”), especially used to denote springs of Ocean, where Perseus killed Medusa, from whose blood Pegasus sprang. Some have dismissed this as folk etymology and suggest a pre-Greek origin because of the -ασος suffix. First attested in the 14th century.

Пегас

in Ancient Greek or other European contexts

(Greek mythology) A winged horse fabled to have sprung from the blood of Medusa when she was slain. He is noted for causing, with a blow of his hoof, Hippocrene, the inspiring fountain of the Muses, to spring from Mount Helicon. Bellerophon tamed and rode upon Pegasus when he defeated the Chimaera.

vernal equinoctial
vernal equinox#English

(astronomy) A constellation of the northern sky, near the vernal equinoctial point, representing the winged horse. Its three brightest stars, with the brightest star of Andromeda, form the asterism of the Great Square of Pegasus.